Rear-wheel drive still excels: BMW M2 CS sets new Nürburgring record

BMW announced today that its lightweight next-generation M2 CS coupe has become the fastest compact car on the Nürburgring: under the hands of factory test driver Jörg Weidinger, the sports car completed the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 25.534 seconds.

The premiere of the BMW M2 CS in G87 body took place in May this year, it will only be on sale by the end of summer, but Jörg Weidinger set the Nürburgring record on April 11, so don't be surprised that the M2 CS body is wrapped in camouflage on the track photos.

In the official Nürburgring records table, the new BMW M2 CS is placed in the compact car class, where it took first place from the four-wheel-drive Audi RS 3 sedan updated last year with a 2.5-liter "turbo five" EA855 evo (400 hp, 500 Nm), its lap time — 7 min 33.123 s.

Before last year's Audi RS 3 Nordschleife run, the record belonged to the standard BMW M2 coupe generation G87 — 7 min 38.706 s, and before that — the pre-facelift Audi RS 3, its lap time — 7 min 40.748 s. Therefore, BMW and Audi are not competing for the first time on the Nordschleife, and hopefully, they will continue this great battle, thanks to which their best compact cars' performance improves.

Let me remind you that the new BMW M2 CS, although it has lightweight body components, weighs a hefty 1700 kg, whereas the Audi RS 3 sedan — 1565 kg (in both cases, the curb weight without driver is indicated), furthermore, the BMW M2 CS only has rear-wheel drive, but it benefits from a well-suited for track classic layout and a more powerful engine: a 3.0-liter inline "twin-turbo six" S58 engine under the hood delivers 530 hp and 650 Nm.

The transmission is only an 8-speed "automatic" M Steptronic, and traction control is assisted by an M Sport self-locking differential. Both the BMW M2 CS and the Audi RS 3 accelerate to the first "hundred" in 3.8 s, with a top speed of 302 km/h (Audi RS 3 — 290 km/h).

The BMW M2 CS became the first production compact car to complete the Nürburgring Nordschleife in less than 7 min 30 s and is close to the mid-size car class in the official track records table, where the top spot is currently held by the BMW M4 CSL coupe with a lap time of 7 min 18.137 s.

The minimum price of the BMW M2 CS in Germany will be 115,000 euros, while the Audi RS 3 sedan costs "only" starting from 68,000 euros.